


Going Down

by Lecrit



Category: Shadowhunters (TV)
Genre: Alec is a chaotic gay I don't make the rules, Fluff, Idiots in Love, Lawyers, M/M, Misunderstandings, Trapped In Elevator, on their way there, or well, side sizzy
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-07-29
Updated: 2018-07-29
Packaged: 2019-06-18 06:29:00
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,669
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15479637
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Lecrit/pseuds/Lecrit
Summary: Of all the days in all the years Alec has worked here, and of all the people who work in this building that he could have found himself stuck with, the Universe chose to trap him in an elevator with Magnus Bane on the day his sister is giving birth.Well, fuck you too, Universe.





	Going Down

**Author's Note:**

> Hello cupcakes,
> 
> I wanted to find a little something to write to kick writer's block's ass and this happened. This is completely self-indulgent and I regret nothing. Not even that ending.
> 
> Big thank you to [Jackie](https://twitter.com/jwrites_) and [Pravs](https://twitter.com/prettyboyyoongi) for beta'ing this quick mess that was written in an afternoon.
> 
> Alternative title to this fic: Next time, I'll take the stairs. 
> 
> All Game of Thrones references are purely coincidental.
> 
> Please use the hashtag #lecrit if you're live-tweeting so I keep track your reactions and laugh my ass off.
> 
> Happy reading!

Alec’s day starts as any other day. He wakes up in the morning, gets ready for his day and leaves for work in time to arrive ten minutes early, like every morning. He spends his morning between meetings and clients, and his expeditive lunch break with his colleague Underhill bitching about their boss who snagged all the glory on a case they worked together.

When he gets back to work, he just has time to sit down behind his desk that his phone chimes with a new text.

He expects something inconsequential but his eyes grow wide when he reads it.

_It’s happening!!!!!!!! We’re on our way to the hospital!!!!!!!!_

“Fuck,” Alec exclaims to himself, pocketing his phone before gathering his stuff and rushing out of his office. “I’m taking the rest of the day,” he tells Maia, who works at the reception desk when she isn’t studying marine biology.

“Is everything okay?” she asks with a frown, but he doesn’t stop to reassure her.

“Izzy is on her way to the hospital,” he explains hastily.

“Send her and Simon my love!” Maia shouts at his retreating back, and Alec nods but doesn’t turn around, knowing she can see it.

When he gets to the elevator, already short of breath from running through the entire office to get there and his heart rummaging in his chest with excitement, one of them is about to close and Alec just has time to yell, “Hold the door, please!”

An elegant hand slithers between the closing door to stop them, and Alec pants in relief.

“Thank you,” he breathes out, before he sees the ring on the hand that is holding the elevator open. Tastefully manicured fingers clad silver rings that can only belong to one person.

When he catches his eyes, Magnus Bane is flashing his eternal smirk. “Lightwood,” he says in lieu of a greeting.

“Bane,” Alec replies, feeling somewhat obtuse. He knows he must look a mess, his jacket hanging on one side of his body, his hair a wreck and his cheeks flushed from his improvised Usain Bolt worthy performance.

Magnus lifts an eyebrow, his lips curved in amusement, and Alec takes a moment to catch his breath, eyes roaming absently over the man. He is wearing a suit, as he always is. It is a night blue to match his nail polish today, and his eyes are highlighted by a dark eyeliner that emphasizes their amber hues. He looks as he always does: breathtaking; and Alec promptly forgets how to breathe again.

“Are you going to stand here all day or are you coming in?” Magnus asks, his velvety voice only adding to his overall beauty. “Because you seemed to be in quite a rush.”

Alec snaps out of his reverie, his gaze whipping away from Magnus’ lips to find his eyes again. “Yeah,” he stammers eloquently. “Yeah.”

He walks in, and Magnus presses the button for the ground floor, the doors closing at Alec’s back.

Alec has been working for the Institute for five years. In those five years, he must have ridden this same elevator approximately four thousands times. He knows those metallic walls almost as well as the ones of his own apartment. Never once did the elevator malfunction. He must be cursed, however, because it chooses this day to finally fail him.

A loud screech resounds in the car, and the elevator abruptly grinds to a halt.

There is a dumbfounded moment of silence where Alec lets the reality of the situation catch up on him.

And then he is moving, reaching to the buttons to frantically and repeatedly press the one for the ground floor. Nothing happens, and Magnus interrupts his desperate and vain attempts.

“I’m not sure this is gonna do anything, darling,” he says in his annoyingly smooth voice. “You should press the bell.”

“I know what to do, I don’t need your help,” Alec snaps, and Magnus blinks in surprise and takes a step back.

“Okay,” he murmurs to himself, dragging the word out as he rolls his eyes in exasperation, clearly taken aback by Alec’s lack of manners. Well, sue him, he has bigger issues right now.

He presses the bell and they wait together as it rings, and rings, and rings, but no one answers.

“Fuck,” Alec groans, kicking the stubbornly shut doors petulantly.

Magnus leans in to press the button again, and Alec forces himself not to notice either their close proximity or the fact that Magnus’ cologne invades his nostrils, sending a long shiver down his spine.

Karma must truly be against him, because when Magnus makes the call, a rough, low voice answers after the second ring. Gritting his teeth, Alec crosses his arms and lets Magnus explain their impediment. The maintenance guy hums all along, and Alec can’t quite tell if he is bored or entranced by Magnus’ voice talking to him through the interphone.

“Okay,” he says eventually. “According to the system, it seems like there was a power failure. It might take a couple of hours to get you out of here.”

“What?” Alec blurts out. “No, no, no. Sir, I can’t be stuck here.”

“We’ll do as quickly as possible,” the man explains. “Stay calm and wait for us.”

There is the click of the line cutting and with that, Alec is left standing between those four demonic walls, mouth half open in protest.

Of all the days in all the years he’s worked here, and of all the people who work in this building that he could have found himself stuck with, the Universe chose to trap him in an elevator with Magnus Bane on the day his sister is giving birth.

Well, fuck you too, Universe.

Alec inhales deeply, shutting his eyes and urging himself to calm down. He repeats the motion a few times until he can feel his heartbeats settling back to a steady rhythm and his anger subdue.

When he opens his eyes again, Magnus is glancing at him, brows dipped in concern.

“You’re not claustrophobic, are you?” he asks gently, and Alec immediately feels like the biggest asshole in the world for snapping at him earlier.

He shakes his head, lips pursed in a defeated grimace. “No,” he says. “It’s just not a good day for me to be stuck in an elevator.”

Magnus scoffs out a quiet laugh and leans against the walls, legs and arms crossed. He paints an almost ethereal picture even then, calm as one can be, his features peaceful despite their catastrophic situation.

“Is there ever a good day to be stuck in an elevator?”

Alec snorts, nodding in consilience. “I guess not,” he mumbles, running a hand over his features. “It’s just…” He hesitates for a second, unsure if he wants to share with Magnus. They’re not friends after all. Magnus is the really hot lawyer who works in the same building as Alec for the biggest rival law firm to the Institute. Still, he finds himself wanting to share with him. It isn’t the first time it happens, but Alec would rather not think about that right now. “My sister is about to give birth,” he eludes with a sigh. “It’s her first child, and I promised her I would be there because her fiancé is a mess and she said I’m the only one who can prevent him from completely panicking and pissing her off.”

Magnus chuckles, and Alec pushes away the thought of his eyes glimmering so beautifully as he does. “It sounds to me like she mostly wanted you there and needed an excuse.”

Alec nods, and goes to lean against the wall opposite Magnus, smiling. “Yeah,” he mutters, shrugging. “We’re very close.”

He must sound as dejected as he feels because Magnus tilts his head to catch his eyes and give him a reassuring smile. He pushes off a wall and takes a step forward to place a comforting hand on Alec’s shoulder, although he keeps a reasonable distance between them.

“I’m sure we won’t be stuck here for too long,” he says. “You’ll be there on time, and you’ll have a funny story to tell your niece or nephew in a few years.”

Alec swallows roughly. Staring in Magnus’ deep eyes in such a confined space is probably not his most brilliant idea, but his mind never did quite properly function in his vicinity.

“Niece,” he says, cursing the husky edge of his voice. He clears his throat, his lips jumping into a quick, awkward smile. “It’s a girl. They’re calling her Charlotte.”

Magnus smiles a little bit wider but doesn’t reply, and Alec is awfully aware of Magnus’ thumb rubbing soothing circles against his shoulder, and even more of every impudent inch separating them.

Alec doesn’t realize he is licking his lips until Magnus’ eyes flash with something he doesn’t dare to put a name on. It reminds him of an evening he has resolutely tried –and failed– to forget.

Alec clears his throat, and it seems to spur Magnus into taking a step back to lean back against the opposite wall.

“I should– I should call them,” Alec stutters, plucking his phone out of his pocket, if only to have something to do with his hands because he doesn’t fully trust himself not to grab onto the lapels of Magnus’ stupidly perfectly tailored suit to smash their mouths together.

There is, of course, no service in the elevator and Alec curses under his breath, pinching the bridge of his nose. He tries to call Simon nonetheless, but it fails before the first ring.

Alec doesn’t know what he did in a former life to deserve such bad karma, but clearly he must have been a horrible person; he sees no other explanation.

Grunting, he lets his head fall back against the wall, bumping it a few times in the hope that it will distract him for a second from the situation he managed to find himself in.

“I have service,” Magnus says in front of him, looking equally worried and amused. “You can use my phone.”

He gives him a small, benevolent smile as he holds out the device and Alec grabs it with a tentative hand.

“Thank you,” he murmurs, and quickly shoots Simon a text to tell him to call him.

They wait for what seems to be forever in silence before the FaceTime ringtone belts into the car, making them both startle.

“Alec!” Simon all but yells at him. “Please tell me you’ll be there soon. Your sister, whom I love with all my heart, has already threatened to kill me twice.”

Alec pulls an apologetic face, but he doesn’t have time to answer before Isabelle’s voice chimes from Simon’s side.

“Is that Alec? Give me the phone!” she exclaims, not so gently.

The next second, his sister appears on the screen, Simon at her side, sending Alec a desperate glance.

“I can see you, you stupid idiot,” she growls, before focusing back on Alec. “Where are you?”

Alec bites on his bottom lip. “Still at work,” he sighs. “I’m stuck in the elevator.”

Isabelle’s eyes go wide and she tugs away her hair which is messier than Alec has ever seen it before. “What?”

“I’m stuck in the elevator,” Alec parrots. “At work. There was a power cut and we’re stuck. We’re waiting for the maintenance team to get us out. I don’t know if I’ll be able to make it, Iz, I’m sorry.”

Isabelle’s tired features fall with the blow, and she groans in exasperation. “Couldn’t you take the stairs?”

Alec throws her a pointed glare. “I work on the thirty-fourth floor,” he reminds her, curving an eyebrow.

Isabelle seems to understand the logic of it because she heaves out a deep sigh, her mouth twisting in discomfort. “I know, I know,” she mumbles. She grimaces again for a second, before her brows furrow in confusion. “Who’s we? Whose phone is this?”

Alec hesitates for a second, casting a brief look at Magnus, who is politely pretending not to eavesdrop, as if he could give them any intimacy in such a small space.

“This is Magnus Bane’s phone,” he tells her, hoping the glance he sends her is enough to buy her silence. “I’m stuck with him.”

Clearly, he doesn’t have such luck. Isabelle’s eyes widen. “Magnus Bane?” she exclaims, and Alec’s companion of misfortune turns his head at the tone of her voice. “ _The_ Magnus Bane?”

Alec urges his face not to flush and curses inwardly when he fails spectacularly. “Uh, yeah,” he says with all the staged confidence he can muster. “Magnus Bane, the lawyer who works for Edom. I’m sure I’ve mentioned him before.”

Isabelle laughs airily, and Alec shuts his eyes in defeat. “Yeah, only a million times,” she scoffs. “And not only for his professional abilities, from what I recall.”

“He can hear you,” he grits out through clenched teeth.

His eyes drift to Magnus, who is sporting an amused smirk even though he still pretends not to be listening, before settling back on his sister.

“Great!” she exclaims. “I need the distraction from the contraction. Show me his face!”

Leave it to his sister to guilt trip him into invading his private life when she is about to become a mother. Alec will stand no chance against his niece; of that he has no doubt.

“What? No!” he tries nonetheless.

“Alec,” she hisses. “I have his number now. Show me his face or I’ll call him as soon as I’m done popping this baby out.”

Magnus titters at his side and the sound is so light and so impossibly charming that Alec finds himself smiling too, although he rolls his eyes for good measure.

“Fine,” he grumbles reluctantly.

Magnus turns towards him, and Alec shuffles closer to fit him in the screen, his face still burning from embarrassment.

Isabelle squints her eyes to study him, gauging him in silence, but it is eventually Simon who whistles under his breath.

“He’s hot,” he comments. “Like hella hot.”

Isabelle nods in approval at his side, and Alec is left with no other option but to facepalm in despair.

“Why, thank you, my dears,” Magnus replies, delighted and amused all at once. “You’re not too bad yourselves. Congratulations, by the way.”

“Thank you,” Simon and Isabelle reply politely, and Alec foolishly believes for a second that they will leave it at that, but Simon adds a prompt, “Congratulations on your face.”

This time, Magnus laughs and Alec forgets why he was annoyed in the first place. It has been a while since he last heard Magnus laughing so freely. Four months, two weeks and three days not that Alec is counting or anything.

Magnus doesn’t laugh like most people. He laughs with his eyes, his whole face morphing into a blissful vision of relaxed joy and unabashed mirth. He laughs with his spirit, which perhaps explains why it is so beautiful.

Isabelle and Simon turn away from them and to the side in a same movement before quickly falling back on Magnus and him.

“The doctor is here,” Isabelle says. “Just get here as soon as you can, okay? Simon will keep you updated.”

“Okay,” Alec sighs, the reality of the situation dawning back on him. “Love you both.”

“Love you too,” they say in unison, before hanging up.

Alec’s cheeks are still flushed, he knows, but he does his best to compose himself and hands the phone back to Magnus.

It chimes with a new text as soon as it is out of Alec’s hands. Magnus opens the message at once, and his mouth pulls into a grin he cannot quite contain, his eyes flickering with amusement.

He levels Alec with a glance filled of mischief and pleased surprise, handing him back the phone.

“I think it’s for you, Alexander.”

Alec’s stomach drops as he grabs the device.

_Get it, bro!!!!!_

He would recognize Simon’s characteristic overuse of exclamation points anywhere.

_Izzy says you should take advantage of this whole elevator situation._

_Oops, I just realized this isn’t Alec’s phone. Sorry, Magnus Bane. Ignore the previous texts._

_Unless you want to get it, of course. In that case, do not ignore them and get it!!!!!!!_

_Doc says she’s not quite ready yet, btw._

“Oh my God,” Alec murmurs under his breath in disbelief. “I’m so sorry.”

Alec is saved from an awkward silence by an unpleasant screech from the button panel, and the boisterous voice of the same maintenance guy than earlier speaking through the interphone.

“Hello? You still here?”

Alec glares at the panel. “No,” he retorts, sarcasm heavy in his tone. “It’s not like we’re stuck or anything.”

Magnus snorts quietly, giving a small, chastising tap on the shoulder. Alec shrugs, mouthing an unimpressed ‘come on’ at him.

“Right,” the man says. “Well, we figured out the problem. We have to reboot the system but you should be free in about half an hour.”

“Thank you, Sir,” Magnus says, his smooth voice curling on the words in a way Alec is sure allows him to get anyone pliant under his will. Which is not where his mind should be going right now.

“I like you better than the other guy,” the maintenance guy grumbles before hanging up.

Alec rolls his eyes. “Well, I like not getting stuck in the elevator.”

Magnus slides down the wall to sit down. “Nothing we can do but wait, darling,” he says, and Alec truly wishes his heart didn’t skip a beat every time Magnus uses a pet name to address him, especially because he knows Magnus gives pet names to pretty much everyone he doesn’t fully hate.

Resigned, Alec sits against the wall in front of Magnus, toying nervously with his fingers.

“So…” he says, and Alec goes still with anticipation, his breath catching in his throat. “ _The_ Magnus Bane?”

Sometimes, on very few occasions, Alec truly hates his sister.

“Will you believe me if I tell you it was only work related?”

Magnus doesn’t answer, sending him a pointed look that has Alec pursing his lips.

“Didn’t think so,” he mumbles. “Well, I might have told my sister about what happened four months ago”—Alec scratches at the scar on his eyebrow nervously– “between us,” he feels the need to add, as if it wasn’t abundantly clear.

Magnus hums and gazes back at his phone, seemingly bored, but Alec notices the tension seeping through his shoulders despite the apparent nonchalance.

It makes Alec’s heart clutch in his chest, in a manner infinitely more painful than he should allow himself. It was only one night, after all.

Still, he remembers it with terrifying clarity.

They had ran into each other at the bar near the US District Court. Alec had had a long afternoon in court, so he had elected to have a drink in a familiar bar where he might find familiar faces before going home. He hadn’t expected to find that this familiar face would be Magnus Bane’s. They had known each other for a long while, running into one another in the lobby, or even faced up in court, but they were far from being friends, what with working for rival companies and all that. Alec had always been attracted to him, and he had caught Magnus’ gaze meandering on him a few times, too, but that had been it.

Alec still, to this day, doesn’t know what spurred his sudden burst of courage that night. When he walked into the bar and found Magnus’ eyes, he had a moment of absence where they just stared at each other, and then Magnus sent him a smile, small and genuine, so different to the one he usually sported that Alec had no choice but to smile back. It could have stopped there, with Alec walking to the bar, ordering a drink that he’d sip by himself before going home alone. But his tired brain had other ideas, and Alec didn’t realize what he was doing until he was halfway to Magnus’ table, and once Magnus spotted him, there was no turning back.

So he sat down, and they talked. They talked about their rather shitty days, about their jobs and the ridiculous rivalry between their firms. And then they had moved on to other topics, their daily lives, Magnus’ cat, Alec’s overwhelming siblings, and time had flown by without either of them truly noticing.

They had drunk a lot, but not quite enough for Alec not to remember how the night ended, in Magnus’ apartment, with their bodies melting in passion as if they were made just for this, every touch a heady call for more, every kiss an intoxicating storm whose fervor felt more natural than anything he had ever felt before.

It had been a perfect night, and even though the next morning was all but that, Alec cannot bring himself to regret it.

They simply wanted different things, he supposes, and although he would have liked to see things go further than the unrequited crush he has been enduring in silence since the first time he laid eyes on Magnus, he has to accept and respect that.

There is no need dwelling on something that will never be more than the memory of a perfect night with a flawless man. He will cherish it for what it was; fleeting, ephemeral, but just as magnificent.

Magnus makes a noise of frustration in the back of his throat, and Alec startles, his head whipping up to look at him.

“Something doesn’t add up and I think I deserve some answers,” he blurts out, his jaw flexing in irritation.

Alec frowns in confusion. “What?”

“I don’t understand you,” Magnus says, thwarted for reasons Alec cannot begin to comprehend. “Why would you tell your sister about us and why would she talk about me like I’m some… some _crush_ of yours if you told her?”

He sounds angrier than Alec thinks he has a right to be considering the circumstances.

“What do you mean?” he asks, no more kindly.

“You ran off!” Magnus exclaims accusingly, his amber eyes boring straight into Alec’s with unwavering intent. “You can’t run off in the morning and then act like nothing happened and–”

“Wow,” Alec cuts in, holding a hand up to stop Magnus’ passionate diatribe. “I didn’t run off, you kicked me out!”

Magnus gasps, clearly offended. “I did no such thing,” he protests. “I thought… I thought we had something.”

He sounds vulnerable now, his eyes shifting away from Alec as he flexes his jaw again.

Now Alec is just as frustrated, at Magnus for putting their disastrous morning after on him, and at himself for somehow unconsciously putting that unbearable look of anguish in his gaze.

“You told me, word for word, ‘I guess I’ll see you around,’” Alec says carefully. “Maybe you didn’t kick me out but I can take a hint!”

“Well, so can I,” Magnus says, lower this time, defeated and resigned. “You were about to leave.”

Alec doesn’t have the time to understand, to tell him he is wrong and that Alec probably would have spent the whole morning, and the afternoon, and the following night and the ones after that with Magnus had he not felt Magnus shut down to him completely, because the elevator shakes with a screech, and then they are moving down.

They stand up together, and if earlier Alec kept his distance with Magnus because he didn’t want to be tempted to cross it altogether, now he does it for entirely different reasons.

“I wasn’t,” he mumbles in the tensed silence, eyes riveted on the shut doors of the elevator as it finally takes them to the lobby. “I don’t know why you got that idea, Magnus, but I wasn’t about to leave.”

Magnus heaves out a deep sigh, just as the doors open and they are greeted by a gruffy looking man, who frowns at the both of them.

“You guys alright?”

“All good,” Magnus says, before walking away.

Alec watches him go, unable to tear his eyes away, his heart rummaging in his ribcage. He doesn’t understand what happened, be it just now or four months ago that morning.

“Yeah,” he mumbles to the guy who is still staring at him, puzzled. “We’re good.”

.

Alec is on the sidewalk five minutes later, and because the Universe is still decidingly plotting against him, he cannot find a taxi which is either free or willing to stop.

He is about to give up and resort to Uber or the subway when a luxurious red car stops in front of him, the window lowering automatically.

Alec’s breath stutters in his chest as he sees Magnus leaning from the driver seat to look at him. “Can’t find a taxi?”

“No,” Alec says, gulping. He shows him the phone in his hand with a grimace. “I’m about to get an Uber.”

Magnus seems to hesitate for a second and mumbles something under his breath that Alec can’t comprehend before looking back at him.

“Get in,” he says. “I’ll give you a lift.”

Alec shakes his head. “No, I don’t want to bother you.”

“Which hospital is it?”

“The Presbyterian in Lower Manhattan,” Alec answers.

“My friend Catarina works there,” Magnus replies at once. “Get in. It’ll give me an excuse to visit her at work. Plus, according to the text your brother-in-law just sent me, your sister is going to be taken to the delivery room soon so you need to get your ass there. So stop being stubborn and get in.”

“Now I’m the stubborn one,” Alec grumbles under his breath, but he obliges nonetheless, sliding into the passenger seat. “Thank you.”

The drive to the hospital is awfully silent, apart from the moment Magnus spends calling his friend Catarina to tell her he’s coming to visit her and that he will meet her in the cafeteria.

Alec pretends to be utterly fascinated by the city around them, as if he hasn’t been living in New York his whole life, and Magnus drums his fingers against the wheel to a steady rhythm, despite the lack of music that could dissolve the tension between them.

Thankfully, the drive is fairly short, and Magnus is parking by the hospital only fifteen minutes later.

“Thank you, Magnus,” he says, with a genuine smile.

Magnus smiles back, but it doesn’t reach his eyes in that breathtaking way Alec is so ludicrously fond of. “You’re welcome,” he replies. “I guess I’ll see you around.”

Alec goes still, his lips parting in shock, but Magnus’ eyes widen.

“I don’t–” he splutters, looking genuinely sorry. “I didn’t mean it like that.”

Alec scoffs out a quiet chuckle. “We’re ridiculous,” he mumbles to himself, and louder, “Bye, Magnus.”

“Bye, Alexander.”

Alec rushes to the elevators, praying under his breath that he won’t get stuck this time but he makes it to the maternity ward unscathed, and soon enough he is reunited with his sister and Simon, sighing in relief.

“Finally!” Isabelle scolds him, as if this whole thing was his fault. Her hair is even messier than it was earlier when they spoke.

“I’m sorry, I’m sorry,” he says anyways, because the look of utter terror on Simon’s face tells him now is not the time to upset his baby sister. “I came as fast as I could. How are you doing?”

“Splendid,” she replies, tone dripping with sarcasm. “I need you to talk to me about something to distract me from the pain. Simon is terrible at it and I might rip his head off if I hear him talk about Indiana Jones one more time.”

Simon gives him a sheepish smile, and Alec chuckles, allowing himself to finally relax. “Okay, what do you want to talk about?”

He regrets asking the second the question is out of his mouth, because Isabelle can be exhausted, and in pain, but she will never miss an occasion to embarrass him or tease him relentlessly.

“How did it go with Magnus Bane?” she inquires. “Did you have torrid sex to pass the time while you were trapped in that elevator?”

Alec rolls his eyes, and promptly suppresses the mental images Isabelle’s words conjured in his mind.

“No, we didn’t,” he says. “In fact, it didn’t end up so well.”

Isabelle frowns, hand shooting to her belly. “Tell me everything,” she demands, teeth clenched in pain. “Now.”

So Alec does, sparing no details, launching himself in a thorough explanation that serves at least the purpose of distracting her from the contractions that are slowly getting closer and closer to each other.

When he is done, she and Simon are both scowling in confusion.

“Why would he say you ran off?” Simon asks.

“I don’t know!” Alec exclaims, frustrated all over again. “I didn’t!”

“What happened that morning exactly?” Isabelle inquires, her face somewhat relaxed now.

Alec wishes he could say he doesn’t remember, that it happened a while ago and that there is no reason for him to recall every detail of that morning, but it would be a lie.

He remembers everything perfectly.

“I woke up first,” he says. “Magnus was still sleeping and I watched him for a while before I got out of bed. But not in a creepy way!” he clarifies at once.

“Yeah, yeah,” Simon interjects. “In a I-want-to-have-adopted-babies-and-maybe-three-dogs-with-you way, we know.”

Alec glares at him, but that is all the consideration he gives to his intervention. “Anyway, I got out of bed and got dressed. Magnus was still sleeping, so I went to the kitchen to make us some breakfast, but he didn’t have any eggs or bacon in his fridge. Or anything, for that matter. So I decided to go down the street to buy us something to eat. I was in the hall when he walked out of the bedroom. And then he just told me he’d see me around as if I was just a stranger he had a one-night-stand with. So I left.”

He must look as dejected as he feels because Isabelle squeezes his hand. Alec lets her, even though she almost crushed it earlier during a contraction.

“Alec,” Simon chimes in, brows tipped in reflection. “Did you have your shoes on?”

“Well, yeah,” Alec says, in a tone that suggests evidence. “I was about to go out for breakfast.”

“Alec, you dumb stupid idiot!” Isabelle exclaims. She tries to move forward but immediately lies back down with a grimace. “Simon, slap him for me!”

Simon looks slightly terrified at the prospect, but he is undoubtedly more scared of his future wife than he is of Alec because he obliges, slapping him lightly at the back of the head.

“What?” Alec asks in indignation.

“He thought you were leaving!” Simon and Isabelle blurt out in a same voice and really, Alec knows they are soulmates and all but this is getting scary.

“Alec, put yourself in his shoes,” Isabelle says, softer this time. “He woke up after your night together to an empty bed, got out of bed and walked out of the bedroom to find you fully dressed with your shoes on by the front door.”

Alec’s eyes widen in realization. “Oh.”

“Yes, oh.”

“Oh,” he says again, feeling utterly and completely like a dumb stupid idiot. “Fuck.”

“Call him!” Isabelle says. “You’ve had a crush on him for years, don’t let him get away for something so ridiculous!”

“He’s here,” Alec breathes out.

“What?”

“He’s here,” he repeats. “He’s at the cafeteria. He’s got a friend who works here and he said he’d take the opportunity to grab a drink with her.”

“Then go!” she almost yells, utterly exasperated now.

Alec goes to stand up, but freezes mid motion and sits back down. “No, no,” he says, shaking his head. “You’re about to go into delivery!”

“Exactly,” she retorts. “I don’t need you in there. I was wrong after all, Simon is far less chaotic than you are. So go and get your man before I have Simon kick you out of here because I can’t do it myself.”

Alec blinks at her in disbelief, before inhaling sharply and leaping to his feet.

“Okay,”

He stands up, but his body is too numb to move, frozen with the realization that this whole thing was just a terrible misunderstanding.

“Go!” Isabelle and Simon shout at him.

“Yes, yes, I’m going,” Alec says with a nod, leaning in to press a kiss to her forehead. “I’ll see you afterwards. Love you.”

“Love you too,” she replies, with an endeared smile.

Alec nods again, and hastily turns around to leave the room. He runs into his mother and Jace in the corridor, but he doesn’t stop to explain.

“Alec?” his mother tries, rightfully confused.

“No time to explain,” he tells her over his shoulder. “I’m an idiot!”

“Nothing new here,” Jace shouts at his retreating back, earning himself a harsh shush from a nurse walking by.

Alec runs to the reception desk, panting heavily. “Where’s the cafeteria?”

The receptionist looks at him like he just grew a second hand, but Alec can’t be bothered by what a complete stranger is thinking about him.

“Third floor,” the man says warily, and Alec is off running again.

It doesn’t take him too long to find the cafeteria after that, no more than it takes him to spot Magnus in the room. He is sitting to a table by a window, with a dark-skinned woman wearing scrubs, and Alec rushes to them, stopping by the table.

He takes a moment to recompose himself, knowing he must look like a maniac at the moment. Magnus’ eyes roam over him, his face a mask of utter surprise.

“Breakfast,” Alec blurts out eloquently.

It does nothing to alleviate the shock on Magnus’ handsome features. If anything, he seems to worry about Alec’s sanity.

“What the hell are you on about, Alexander?”

“Oh,” Magnus’ friend mutters under her breath. “That’s him. He’s handsome,” she tells Magnus, as if Alec wasn’t standing right next to them.

“Cat,” Magnus berates her with a half smile, before focusing back on Alec.

Alec wisely chooses to ignore her for now, unable to look away from Magnus anyway.

“I was on my way to get us breakfast,” he starts again. “I wasn’t leaving.”

Magnus’ face flashes with realization, his lips parting, but no words come out.

“Well, looks like it’s the end of my break,” Catarina exclaims, bolting out of her seat at once. She plants a kiss on Magnus’ cheek. “Let me know if I need to kick his ass.”

And with that, she is walking away. Neither Magnus nor he look at her go, too fixated on one another to truly pay attention to the world swirling around them.

“I wasn’t leaving,” Alec repeats. “Magnus, it was.... _perfect_. That night. It was one of the best nights of my life, and I’ve had the biggest, most ridiculous crush on you for years. That night meant something to me, and I never would have left. I wanted more. But I thought you were kicking me out because it didn’t mean the same to you as it meant to me… so I left.”

Magnus blinks at him, and for a moment, Alec wonders if he read this whole thing wrong again. If maybe it wasn’t a misunderstanding at all, and Magnus truly didn’t want him there.

But then, Magnus laughs. That same, soul-wrenching laugh that makes his eyes shine so brightly, and he shakes his head.

“Well, I feel like an idiot,” he says.

Alec snorts. That is a feeling he can relate to. “Join the club.”

Magnus slides his thumb on his bottom lip, and his amber eyes are open and oh so easy to read as he settles them on Alec again.

“So what now?” he asks, with a vulnerability and hesitance Alec isn’t used to seeing in the strong-headed, ruthless lawyer he has seen in the courtroom before.

“A date?” Alec inquires, feeling decidedly bold. “Tomorrow night?”

Magnus’ lips curve into a smile, almost tender. “I’d love that.”

“Great,” Alec breathes out, a weight lifting off of his shoulders as relief pours through him. “Great. Amazing.”

He needs to shut up before he professes his undying love and gets down on one knee, he reminds himself.

They stare at each other for a moment, but there is nothing awkward about the silence surrounding them. On the contrary, it is peaceful despite the frantic hospital life. Harmonious like their night together.

“So,” Magnus says eventually, a smirk tugging at the corner of his lips, “are you gonna kiss me or what?”

“Oh, thank God,” Alec breathes in relief, gripping the lapels of Magnus’ impeccable suit to lift him off his chair and smash their mouths together.

And it is just as extraordinary as it was four months ago. Alec dips his head to find his lips, Magnus’ hands drifting to the back of his head to hold him close, his fingers tumbling into his hair.

Alec’s heart slams against his ribcage. He loses himself to Magnus’ lips, surrendering without a fight, without even a second thought.

.

Two weeks later, Alec finds himself rushing to get to his office again, late for the first time in the five years he has worked at the Institute.

“Hold the door!” he yells as he rushes through the lobby towards the elevator.

He all but jumps inside, pressing the button to the thirty-fourth floor.

“Lightwood,” a teasing, velvety voice hums behind him.

A long shiver runs down Alec’s spine as he swirls around to face his boyfriend. “Bane,” he greets him, a smirk tugging at the corner of his lips.

“Missed the alarm?” Magnus asks.

“Something like that,” Alec replies playfully. “ _Someone_ thought that showering together would earn us time, but it turned out to be wrong.”

“Oh, well I’m sure that _someone_ only meant well,” Magnus retorts. “And perhaps you wouldn’t have been late if you hadn’t spent ten minutes making out with _someone_ at the front door.”

Alec shrugs, utterly unapologetic. “I regret nothing.”

A loud, familiar screech resounds in the car, and Alec’s eyes widen as the elevator abruptly grinds to a halt, for the second time in two weeks.

“What the fuck,” he mumbles disbelievingly under his breath. “Really?”

He presses the bell immediately, but it rings, and rings for a good minute without an answer.

Frowning, Alec turns around to face Magnus, who is leaning against the wall with his arms crossed, a mischievous smirk on his lips.

“Why don’t you look surprised about this?” he asks, accusing but not particularly bothered.

Magnus shrugs innocently. “Ah, those things happen, you know.”

Alec isn’t fooled for one second. “What did you do?”

“Me?” Magnus exclaims, voice filled with staged naivety. “Nothing!” He pauses for dramatic effect, his eyebrow curving in guile. “Although _someone_ might have made a new friend among the maintenance team and maybe, but it’s all hypothetical, that someone paid his new friend a handsome price to have him stop the elevator while we were both coincidentally there together.”

Alec bites on his bottom lip, unable to refrain from chuckling. His fingers tremble lightly with excitement, his stomach twisting in anticipation.

“You are a menace, Bane,” he says, but the words are belied by the utter adoration he can hear in his own voice.

He takes a step forward, watching as Magnus straightens up against the elevator’s wall, his fingers slowly unbuttoning his burgundy shirt, eyes boring right into Alec’s, an eyebrow raised in challenge.

“Well, Lightwood, maybe you should do something about that,” Magnus murmurs. “After all, we might be stuck here for a while.”

So Alec does just that, covering Magnus’ lips with his own.

 

He doesn’t know if it was the Universe, karma or something else entirely that brought them there together two weeks ago, but he is grateful all the same.

 

**Author's Note:**

> I hope you enjoyed it!
> 
> I'm (mostly) on twitter [@_L_ecrit](https://twitter.com/_L_ecrit) and sometimes on tumblr [@lecrit](http://lecrit.tumblr.com/).  
> Oh, and... #SaveShadowhunters #youfuckers
> 
> All the love,  
> Lu. ❤


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